Report: Apple's AirPower charger delayed for a September release

A report from Mark Gurman of Bloomberg delves on why Apple's long anticipated AirPower has been seen as AirVapour. Announced in September last year, many expected the AirPower charger, which can triple charge an iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods with a special charging case.

AirPower (which should have been called Apple Juice, in my opinion) offers an elegant solution to multi Apple device users which need to be charged nightly. Creating a multifunctional wireless charger, it seems, is harder than many expected. Specially since AirPower aims to cater to three devices simultaneously. Apple will use the Qi wireless charging standard, but with a lot customization and possibly an Apple processor.

"An executive at an Apple partner that manufactures third-party wireless chargers for iPhones, who asked not to be identified, said the multi-device charging mechanism is challenging to build because it likely requires different sized charging components for the three types of devices, which would all overlap across the mat," Bloomberg's report stated.

Granted, making a good charging mat is hard (most of the third party models are rubbish, requiring phones to be placed in a very specific area to charge). The best one in the market right now is made by Samsung (Convertible Wireless Charger). It is understandable for Apple to want to get it right and ensure the devices are charged properly and safely with no overheating.

What's more worrysome is Apple's track record of announcing upcoming products early and failing to deliver them on time. The initial hype and buzz generated by their early announcements turns to skepticism when the devices fail to ship within a reasonable or expected time. AirPods, HomePod, and AirPower all missed their initial release windows.

Delay to market also gives competitors a window to hijack demand and offer competing products AirPower was expected to ship in June but will be instead slated for September, likely during the next iPhone launch.